#360view: Eddie Jones' England beautiful in its simplicity

Andy Lewis 06:45 20/06/2016
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  • Abrasive: Eddie Jones.

    There’s something very special happening right now with an English rugby team who have gone from World Cup turkeys to the scourge of the Wallabies in the space of just nine months.

    On Saturday they resembled a formidable unit, glued together by a collective belief they could not be beaten – an inspired defensive effort repelling their hosts and sealing an unassailable lead in the Cook Cup series Down Under. Their coach, Eddie Jones, can simply do no wrong at the moment.

    Whereas the tweaks in style and strategy were abundantly clear a week earlier when they won by a record margin in Brisbane, their series-clinching triumph was underpinned by the psychological shift he has orchestrated.

    Previous England teams would have folded. This one found a way to win even in the most testing of circumstances. And when you consider how the Red Rose were thoroughly outclassed by the Wallabies on home soil and ignominiously sent packing from the group stage of their own World Cup, the transformation is nothing short of miraculous.

    Jones’ leadership qualities have been evident from day one, as has been his insistence on doing things his own way. That single-mindedness has clearly rubbed off on his players.

    Jones has moved back in the direction of embracing traditional English strengths: a game built upon solid fundamentals, a well-oiled set piece and a murderous pack.

    The latter has been achieved and then some, starting with his highly-controversial choice of captain.

    Dylan Hartley’s qualities as a player have never been in doubt but his rap sheet had made him English rugby’s ultimate pariah. But Jones wanted an edge to his pack, some bite up front, while if you want a perfectly functioning line-out then Hartley’s delivery is without equal.

    The Northampton hooker has flourished with the extra responsibility, all that talent finally being harnessed by the national set-up. He replaced Chris Robshaw, a man synonymous with last autumn’s failure, but Jones’ decision to retain him as a foot soldier has proven a masterstroke.

    Moved back into his more accustomed blindside berth, a player traumatised by World Cup heartache and losing the armband enjoyed arguably his best-ever display in an England shirt at the weekend.

    Filling his old No. 7 spot is James Haskell, a 70-cap veteran but previously viewed with trepidation as a disciplinary timebomb all too likely to detonate once the pressure gauge lurched into the red.

    Yet he is another reborn under Jones, emboldened by his trust and blossoming with the new Red Rose. And it’s not just in the pack that his coaching mastery has been at work.

    Predecessor Stuart Lancaster plainly failed to exploit the talents of George Ford and Owen Farrell – two fly-halves of tremendous potential that any coach would be lucky to have at their disposal. But Lancaster chopped and changed, robbed both of confidence and ultimately neither performed consistently at their best level in and around last year’s tournament.

    Jones, however, has provided a clinic in man management, alternating them effectively, at times using them in unison with Farrell outside of Ford, and the end result was both producing outstanding displays in Saturday’s second Test.

    That result left Jones with eight wins from eight, a Grand Slam, a southern hemisphere series triumph under his belt and a 3-0 whitewash of the Aussies in his sights.

    Of course the honeymoon will end eventually, and there will inevitably be ups and downs on the road to the 2019 World Cup. But the evidence that English rugby is once again in safe hands is completely and utterly overwhelming.

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